Should Defense Spending Be Cut to Help Bring Down Budget Deficits?

NEW YORK, Nov. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Financial Times/Harris Poll in the United States and the five largest European countries looks at the impact of defense spending on budget deficits and finds some mixed attitudes. Half of Germans (49%), more than two in five Spaniards (45%) and two in five Italians (41%) believe cutting defense budgets to further bring down budget deficits is mostly a good thing. Two in five Britons (39%) believe doing this is mostly a bad thing and more than two in five French (44%) say it is neither a good nor a bad thing. Americans are most divided with more than one-third saying cutting defense spending to bring down the budget deficit is mostly a bad thing (36%) or neither a good nor bad thing (36%).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100517/NY06256LOGO)

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100517/NY06256LOGO)

These are some of the findings of a Financial Times/Harris Poll conducted online by Harris Interactive® among 6,181 adults aged 16-64 within France (1,082), Germany (1,021), Great Britain (1,016), Spain (990), U.S. (1,057) and adults aged 18-64 in Italy (1,015) between October 12 and 19, 2010.  

In terms of where to cut, the top choice for majorities in Germany (79%), Spain (76%), Italy (69%), France (58%), and the U.S. (54%) is nuclear weapons. While just under half of Britons (47%) also say nuclear weapons should be cut, a majority (57%) believes the cuts should come from Civil Servants.

Hawks tend to argue that if defense spending is cut, national security is put at risk, but people in these 6 countries do not all see that happening. More than two in five Germans (48%), French (46%) and Spaniards (44%), and two in five Italians (39%) are not at all concerned that making these defense cuts would weaken their country's ability to protect itself.  However, one-quarter of Britons (25%) and three in ten Americans (30%) are very or extremely concerned.

Other interesting findings of this survey include:

• Over half of French (54%) and Germans (51%) and just under half of Spaniards (48%) and Italians (47%) are not at all concerned that defense cuts will damage their country's reputation in the international arena. While one-quarter of Americans (23%) and one in five Britons (18%) are very or extremely concerned about this, one-third of Americans (33%) and over one-quarter of Britons (28%) say they are not at all concerned;
• One thing most agree on is the preparedness of their country's military. Majorities in the U.S. (74%), Great Britain (68%), France (62%), Spain (62%) and Germany (51%) believe their military is mostly fit for the challenges of the 21st century. Italy disagrees, as over half (53%) say their military is mostly unfit for the challenges;
• Three in five French (60%), almost half of Italians (48%) and Germans (48%), over two in five Spaniards (44%) and almost two in five Americans (38%) support the idea of their country sharing military resources with another country. Britons are extremely divided with just over one-third (35%) opposing this idea, one-third supporting it (33%) and one-third neither supporting nor opposing it;
• If it was certain that Iran was on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons and all diplomatic options were exhausted, almost half of Italians (47%) and more than two in five Spaniards (45%) and French (43%) would oppose military action.  However, more than half of Americans (54%) and just under half of Britons (46%) would support military action. Germans are split – 37% would support it and 36% would oppose military action.

NATO Summit

This month, there is a NATO summit. One of the topics is NATO's role in Afghanistan. Each country has a slightly different viewpoint as to what their country's troops should do in Afghanistan. In the U.S., 36% believe troops should withdraw immediately while 30% say they should stay as long as necessary. Just over two in five Britons (42%), French (44%) and Germans (44%) believe their troops should withdraw immediately, while one-quarter of Britons (25%) and Germans (26%) and one-third of French (32%) say they should stay as long as necessary. About one in five French (20%), German (21%) and British (22%) adults and one-quarter of Americans (26%) say the troops should stay one more year and then withdraw. Almost half of Italians (49%) and Spaniards (47%) say troops should withdraw from Afghanistan immediately, yet almost three in ten Spaniards (28%) and one on five Italians (22%) believe they should stay as long as necessary.

In terms of what NATO should prioritize, half of Americans (51%), just under half of Britons (48%), French (48%), Italians (48%) and Spaniards (46%) and two in five Germans (41%) say it should be fighting terrorism. Over two in five Americans (45%) and over one-third of Germans (37%) and Britons (36%) say NATO should look at making sure Iran does not acquire the atomic bomb. Two in five Italians (39%) and one-third of French (33%) say it should be pre-empting the food crisis while over two in five Spaniards (43%) say it should be pre-empting the natural resource crisis.

So What?

In these days of international terrorism and bombs on cargo planes, the issue of defense cuts has the possibility of causing concern. But, when coupled with huge deficits and times of economic turmoil, there needs to be a careful balance. As long as people feel their country's military is equipped properly and mostly fit for modern warfare and that fighting terrorism is still a top priority, defense cuts are not going to get much argument from these citizens.

Methodology

This FT/Harris Poll was conducted online by Harris Interactive among a total of 6,181 adults aged 16-64 within France (1,082), Germany (1,021), Great Britain (1,016), Spain (990), U.S. (1,057) and adults aged 18-64 in Italy (1,015) between October 12 and 19, 2010.  Figures for age, sex, education, region and Internet usage were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult populations of the respective countries. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls and the British Polling Council.

The Harris Poll® #134, November 3, 2010

By Regina A. Corso, SVP, Harris Poll, Public Relations and Youth Research, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

SOURCE Harris Interactive

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED